diff --git a/cleopatra/array_glyph.py b/cleopatra/array_glyph.py
index ee28109..de11451 100644
--- a/cleopatra/array_glyph.py
+++ b/cleopatra/array_glyph.py
@@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ def apply_colormap(self, cmap: Union[Colormap, str]) -> np.ndarray:
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        cmap: LinearSegmentedColormap
+        cmap: LinearSegmentedColormap/str
             colormap.
 
         Returns
@@ -597,8 +597,8 @@ def to_image(self) -> Image.Image:
         <PIL.Image.Image image mode=RGB size=3x3 at 0x7F5E0D2F4C40>
         """
         # This is done to scale the values between 0 and 255
-        # TODO: not sure if scaling the array to rgb is necessary here.
-        return Image.fromarray(self.scale_to_rgb()).convert("RGB")
+        arr = self.arr if self.arr.dtype == "uint8" else self.scale_to_rgb()
+        return Image.fromarray(arr).convert("RGB")
 
     def scale_to_rgb(self) -> np.ndarray:
         """Create an RGB image.
diff --git a/tests/test_array_glyph.py b/tests/test_array_glyph.py
index 519e917..dcac53b 100644
--- a/tests/test_array_glyph.py
+++ b/tests/test_array_glyph.py
@@ -355,12 +355,20 @@ def test_scale_to_rgb():
     assert rgb_arr.dtype == "uint8"
 
 
-def test_to_image():
-    arr = np.array([[1, 2, 3, 4], [5, 6, 7, 8], [9, 10, 11, 12], [13, 14, 15, 16]])
-    my_glyph = ArrayGlyph(arr)
+class TestToImage:
+    def test_int64_arr(self):
+        arr = np.array([[1, 2, 3, 4], [5, 6, 7, 8], [9, 10, 11, 12], [13, 14, 15, 16]])
+        my_glyph = ArrayGlyph(arr)
+
+        image = my_glyph.to_image()
+        assert isinstance(image, Image.Image)
+
+    def test_uint_arr(self):
+        arr = np.random.randint(0, 255, size=(4, 4)).astype(np.uint8)
+        my_glyph = ArrayGlyph(arr)
 
-    image = my_glyph.to_image()
-    assert isinstance(image, Image.Image)
+        image = my_glyph.to_image()
+        assert isinstance(image, Image.Image)
 
 
 def test_adjust_ticks():